DIY Thread - Let's see your "Inventions".

[deserthomestead]

My free repurposed fodder system:


The fodder grows in the bottom of old milk jugs. I cut the tops off, then punched 1/4" holes throughout the bottom for drainage.


The trays sit in two nesting baskets, which allows air circulation and good drainage. (Standing water = BAD BAD BAD!)
Six trays can fit in each basket. 1/2 cup (presoaked measure) of wheat berries goes into each milk jug tray.




The baskets sit in the bottom of our spare shower. There is a skylight in the room and I use the removable showerhead to rinse the sprouts 3x daily.


Our feed is going so much further now! Two adult rabbits split one tray per day, in addition to dry hay. The chicks haven't figured out that it's food yet (they just fight over who gets to sit on top of it.)

 

[perchie.girl]

My free repurposed fodder system:


The fodder grows in the bottom of old milk jugs. I cut the tops off, then punched 1/4" holes throughout the bottom for drainage.


The trays sit in two nesting baskets, which allows air circulation and good drainage. (Standing water = BAD BAD BAD!)
Six trays can fit in each basket. 1/2 cup (presoaked measure) of wheat berries goes into each milk jug tray.




The baskets sit in the bottom of our spare shower. There is a skylight in the room and I use the removable showerhead to rinse the sprouts 3x daily.


Our feed is going so much further now! Two adult rabbits split one tray per day, in addition to dry hay. The chicks haven't figured out that it's food yet (they just fight over who gets to sit on top of it.)

excellent are you using the ebb and flow system?

deb

 

[deserthomestead]

excellent are you using the ebb and flow system?

deb

I'm not sure - pretty new to all this.
I'm not using any kind of pump or cycling the water.
I *am* flooding the roots and allowing it to drain.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: How it works is you pump water into the growbeds..... it reaches a certain level and triggers a draining mechanism which drains the water back out to where it was pumped from. Its pretty simple if you have some basic.... I mean really basic plumbing skills. I have seen an ebb and flow valve made of a soda bottle ..... Let me see if I can find the youtube video I watched of it.

I cant find it.... but the mechanism is a sleeve setting over the op of a perforated stand pipe. The sleeve is water tight but free to float. as the water gets deeper it lifts the sleeve up to a point where the water spills into the standpipe. The siphon is started through the sleeve and automatically starts draining out the water down to the perforations in the bottom of the sleeve.

So you set your water depth by the height of the holes in the floating sleeve..... Dang I have to draw again.... but I wont be back till later tonight.

Look up ebb and flow systems online..... There are ones you can buy but you can build one for the price of PVC and time to tinker.

deb

 

[kbuyle]

Very nice. How did you seal the resivoir side where the water comes in?

 

[kbuyle]

nice

 

[kbuyle]

Simple, yet functional.

 

[coffeekittie]

What is the Apple Cider Vinegar for? What does it do to galvanized metal?

I did find a cheap plastic pan, but I think it should be a bit bigger. Was in a hurry so chickies would have water all day since we were going to be gone. Works OK, they just don't have a lot of room for their heads. They sure were curious about their new "thing in the pen". I put it on top of two paving stones to keep some of the mud out. I find when the water gets about 1/2 way down the bucket, it trickles out very slow unless you press on the top of the lid.

I saw some quite large rubber tubs about 4" deep at TSC and I may get one of these.

Best of all, they still had plenty of water when we got home!

Would this same idea work for feed, anyone? Or would the feed draw moisture and get lumpy?

Thanks for your reply!

The Apple Cider Vinegar with the mother in it contains good probiotics and acidity levels to aid in the chickens/rabbits/horses/whatever digestion. It helps fend off cocci, too. Not a cure-all, but a good addition to their diet, IMO.

Here are my pictures of chickies' new waterer. Thanks to BYC and its members!


They drink A LOT of water!!

I like the bucket - I can do that! In the area where I live, it's too wet to leave dry food out unless It's under good cover. But then, I'm also starting up some fermented feed for my chickens, so wet won't matter.

Duck House and Barley Balls - ready to float tomorrow

You have a pond, so jealous! Nice floating house, too. I had to look up barley balls, what a good idea!

I agree.... I use rubber tubs too Galvanized doesnt last long with my hard water and blazing sun. For What its worth Vinegar is an acid and will corrode metal.... I think someone asked about that....?

Also the reason people use vinegar is an dietary supplement. The apple Cider Vinegar with the mother still in it... (Cloudy) is very beneficial to people and critters.

deb

I have hard water too. Things rust here, even the galvanized waterers/feeders.

vinegar can have a lot of good effects on your chickens. the raw, apple cider vinegar with mother is all you should use; no white or pasturized. if your interested in organic healing, and feeding; i recommend looking for threads from "beekissed" this is one of my favorite, although i don't think i have ever posted. https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...-horrors-anyone-want-to-follow-their-progress

That is an EXCELLENT thread, and I've been reading it for days.

Scoop-zilla. I needed a quicker alternative to sifting sand in the brooder. It's the top off a 5 gallon jug. I used garden screen from the dollar store ,it's twice as large as window screen. and just used zip ties to fasten it all together. much quicker than a kitty litter scoop

Nice scoop, thanks! I'm thinking of using PDZ in places in my new coops, and was sadly thinking about the tiny cat litter scoops, lol.

My free repurposed fodder system:


The fodder grows in the bottom of old milk jugs. I cut the tops off, then punched 1/4" holes throughout the bottom for drainage.


The trays sit in two nesting baskets, which allows air circulation and good drainage. (Standing water = BAD BAD BAD!)
Six trays can fit in each basket. 1/2 cup (presoaked measure) of wheat berries goes into each milk jug tray.




The baskets sit in the bottom of our spare shower. There is a skylight in the room and I use the removable showerhead to rinse the sprouts 3x daily.


Our feed is going so much further now! Two adult rabbits split one tray per day, in addition to dry hay. The chicks haven't figured out that it's food yet (they just fight over who gets to sit on top of it.)

Nice. Lucky critters!

How it works is you pump water into the growbeds..... it reaches a certain level and triggers a draining mechanism which drains the water back out to where it was pumped from. Its pretty simple if you have some basic.... I mean really basic plumbing skills. I have seen an ebb and flow valve made of a soda bottle ..... Let me see if I can find the youtube video I watched of it.

I cant find it.... but the mechanism is a sleeve setting over the op of a perforated stand pipe. The sleeve is water tight but free to float. as the water gets deeper it lifts the sleeve up to a point where the water spills into the standpipe. The siphon is started through the sleeve and automatically starts draining out the water down to the perforations in the bottom of the sleeve.

So you set your water depth by the height of the holes in the floating sleeve..... Dang I have to draw again.... but I wont be back till later tonight.

Look up ebb and flow systems online..... There are ones you can buy but you can build one for the price of PVC and time to tinker.

deb

Ok, you are just too clever! I'm proud of myself because I just started fermenting the chickens' feed in a simple bucket, and look what you are coming up with!

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote: Oh Gawd Not me..... LOL. Ebb and flow systems have been around since the Romans invented indoor plumbing..... But I have recently been reading A LOT about Aquaponics where you raise fish in a big 300 gallon tank and you use their water to feed a Hydroponics bed. Ebb and flow works best for these kinds of systems. build up a coarse gravel bed and you can plant the tomatoes or squash right in the bed Or do like the OP and raise them in tubs right in the ebb and flow tray.

BTW I was also looking into this to raise fodder for my horse and goats as well. On a Much Much Much larger scale. I simply dont have the energy. But my forte is digging up information. As a Manufacturing engineer my thing is making stuff work.... drawing it up removing barriers and helping people with their dreams. From tools to simple mechanisms....

deb

 

[deserthomestead]

perchie.girl, is this the one you're thinking of?